


Our Name

by arminjagers



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 15:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9241286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arminjagers/pseuds/arminjagers
Summary: Ruby is desperate to prove her worth to Sapphire, but Sapphire insists on abandoning the mindset of Homeworld.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first thing i've written in a long time, so im hoping it turned out alright!!! 
> 
> this takes place during the answer, so there will be some spoilers! 
> 
> i hope you enjoy! <3

Sapphire was still trying to comprehend what had happened; she'd thrown everything away just for the sake of a Ruby. She certainly wasn't regretting her decision - after all, it was likely Blue Diamond would have shattered her if she hadn't made her decision - but she still wasn't sure if she had chosen the most reasonable path, either. Now that she was far from her home, with nobody but Ruby, the earth, and all of the creatures that roamed it, she wasn't sure what to do. Without a Diamond's guidance, and knowing that her future vision had been wrong for the first time in her existence, she was helpless. 

She sat in the grass with her hands folded on her lap, watching as Ruby chased a massive, brightly colored frog. Ruby had insisted that the frog was "poisonous" and that she had to keep Sapphire safe from it... She didn't think an earth creature's poison could harm a gem, but she allowed Ruby to do whatever she needed to feel useful; after all, it was in a Ruby's nature to feel protective of others. 

"Caught it!" Ruby called out, holding the frog above her head as if it were a prize. "Don't worry, Sapphire, I'll dispose of this foul creature before it can cause any more harm." Before she could even finish declaring her victory, the frog had slipped from her hands and scampered off into the pond. 

"I think the creature should be left alone, Ruby." Sapphire rose to her feet and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder before she could go after it once again. "Creatures on earth don't attack without reason. They have their own lives, and tend to avoid confrontation... Besides, that creature did not look remotely threatening." 

Ruby wanted to protest, but she knew Sapphire was right. Still, she felt as if she needed to compensate for what had happened. No gem had ever made such a sacrifice for Ruby's sake; she felt like she would be in Sapphire's debt for eternity. 

"Alright... but I'm keeping my eye on that pond." Ruby clenched her fists as she turned to the water again, and Sapphire couldn't help but laugh. 

"Ruby, please. It's okay." she reassured her, turning Ruby away from the pond. 

"But it's not!" Ruby protested. "I... I ruined your life, I need to make up for it however I can!" 

"You did not ruin my life, Ruby-" 

"Yes I did! Because of me, we can never go back home! And because of me, your future vision is all screwed up! And because of me, we're stuck on this stupid, pathetic planet!" Ruby grumbled, tears filling her eyes and immediately turning to steam. "I was stupid, I shouldn't have saved you from being poofed by that Pearl, I-" She caught herself, covering her mouth. "Oh, no no- I didn't mean it like... I just... I was just..." 

"Shhh..." Sapphire hushed Ruby, placing a finger over her mouth. "It's alright. I promise. I know what you meant. You weren't wrong for trying to protect me, you were simply fulfilling your duty." She was tempted to mention the fusion, but decided against it. It was a subject they'd both avoided, since it only added more confusion to the situation, and she didn't want to upset Ruby even further. "But consider this; if fulfilling your duty was what got us into this mess... Trying to fulfill it again certainly won't get us out of it." Sapphire folded her hands against her chest, thinking for a moment. "And... the 'duties' we were both designed to fulfill... Or, rather, the concept of destiny and fulfillment in and of itself... Don't you think they might be flawed?" 

Ruby refused to meet Sapphire's eyes, but her expression seemed to change. She understood, and even agreed, but she wasn't in the mood to think about it anymore. She got down in the grass and laid on her back. "What do you see in the future right now?" Ruby asked, avoiding the subject. 

Sapphire sat down beside Ruby, placing her hands on her lap. "Too many things. Before you saved me, everything was so simple. The future was straightforward; I knew what would happen, and it happened. It was a single, clear path. But now, the path has split, and I'm unsure of which future is 'correct'." Sapphire plucked a flower from the grass, tearing off each individual petal as she spoke. She grew anxious when her hands weren't busy. "I see one future where you continue to pursue the frog. You follow it into the pond, desperate to 'protect me', and evaporate all of the water in the pond with your heat, killing the creatures within it. I don't want you to kill anything, so could we stay away from that future?" Sapphire said, smiling. 

Ruby slapped a hand over her face, laughing. "Alright, fine. Then how _can_ I make up for all of this, if protecting you isn't what you want?" 

"You don't have to make up for it. I told you." 

Ruby sighed. "I get what you mean, about the whole thing with 'destiny' not being real, and our roles being flawed, all that. But that doesn't mean I don't still feel like I need to make it up to you... It's just in my nature, I guess. Everyone comes before me. Need to protect everyone I'm assigned to, or get shattered trying. I don't matter." 

Sapphire laid back in the grass, sighing softly. "That does make sense. But that _is_ a mentality instilled by Homeworld, and well... We're never going back home. So there's no point in holding on to it. It would be better if we saw each other as equals, would it not?" 

Ruby snorted, looking away from Sapphire. "Yeah, sure." she said. But from the way Sapphire stared at her, she realized she was serious. "It's just... beyond my comprehension, I guess." she added with a shrug. 

"Again, I understand. But the thought of someone changing fate also used to be beyond my understanding, and look where we are now." Sapphire said. "I think... if we try hard enough, we can make the best of this situation. But that won't happen unless we stop trying to follow the roles of Homeworld." 

"You're right..." Ruby said, laughing awkwardly. "We're just like those rebel gems, aren't we?" 

"I guess we are." Sapphire stated. 

The two gems lay together in silence for quite some time after that. The sun began to fall, turning the sky and clouds various shades of reds and blues and violets. Ruby observed that sunsets on Earth were far more beautiful than they were on Homeworld. 

"What do you think we created?" Sapphire finally spoke up after a while, startling Ruby. 

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked. 

"Well, when you fuse with other Rubies, you're still a Ruby. But if a Ruby and a Sapphire fuse... what would that be called?" Sapphire asked. 

"Not sure..." Ruby said, thinking. "I didn't even think of that." 

"Could we find out?" Sapphire asked, turning to Ruby and reaching for her hand. The sudden display of affection caught Ruby off guard, and she jerked away without thinking. Immediately regretting it, she reached out for Sapphire's gloved hand and stroked the gem on her palm. "Ah, well... I guess it won't hurt. Not like we got anything to lose..." 

Sapphire chuckled, rising to her feet and reaching a hand out for Ruby. "That's the spirit." she said, pulling Ruby to her feet. "So... how does fusion work? You've done it more than I have, so I'll need your guidance." 

Ruby blushed, reaching for both of Sapphire's hands, their gems touching and making a clinking sound. "Well... We usually just grab each other and it... happens? It's hard to explain, uh..." Ruby swung their hands back and forth, waiting for something to happen. "Ugh, of course. The one time we _want_ to fuse, it won't work!" 

Sapphire held on tight to Ruby's hands, spinning around in a circle. Ruby laughed, a bit confused by this. "What are you doing?" she asked. 

"Maybe we need to dance for it to work." Sapphire said half-jokingly. She stopped spinning, placing her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "When we first fused, we sort of... spun around?" 

"Yeah, I guess we did!" Ruby said, grasping Sapphire's waist. The two of them continued to "dance" cautiously, and in an attempt to try something more effective, Ruby lifted Sapphire into the air and spun her around. They both laughed, until Ruby lost her balance and the two gems tumbled over into the grass; and just like that, they fused. 

The fusion scrambled to her feet, stumbling like a newborn fawn. "Sapph- Ruby...? Are you alright?" she sputtered, running her hands across her body. "Oh... I'm me." 

Once she was able to balance, she tiptoed over to the pond and gazed at her reflection. Her clothes were tattered and mis-matched, and her hair was a swirl of pink and pastel blue. Her third eye, however, stood out more than anything else. She crouched down in the grass and dipped her finger into the water, watching the surface ripple and distort her reflection. 

The fusion then turned her palms upward; one gem on each hand, a perfect balance in the chaos that was the rest of her appearance. "Garnet..." she mumbled to nobody in particular. 

She'd never heard that word before, but she spoke it without even thinking. It felt so natural on her tongue, and for the first time in her short existence, she felt certain of one thing; she was not _a_ Garnet - she was simply Garnet. 

"I'm Garnet!" she repeated, louder and more confident than before. Garnet rose to her feet, suddenly filled with energy and an overwhelming urge to run as far and fast as her legs could manage. And she did exactly that, running through the forest with her arms outstretched and laughing childishly - until she tripped, fell onto the ground with a thud, and unfused. 

"Ouch... we probably should have been more careful..." Ruby groaned, rising to her feet. She saw that Sapphire had fallen into the mud and gasped, crouching down beside her and helping her up. "Oh no, are you okay?" 

Sapphire pushed herself upright and wiped mud from her face. She didn't seem very bothered by the fall, but instead, appeared to focus on something else. 

Ruby used her shirt to wipe Sapphire's face off, brushing her bangs to the side; she'd seen Sapphire's single eye more than once, but it still threw her off every time she saw it. "Ah, I'm sorry... I- uh, we? We probably should have been more careful." 

"Garnet..." Sapphire whispered, not seeming to care. She had the brightest smile Ruby had ever seen on her face. "I can't believe it..." 

Ruby stopped, smiling slightly. She was so caught up in taking care of Sapphire that she'd almost forgotten about the discovery they had just made. They'd created someone entirely new, and the discovery of her name was just the beginning of the possibilities that lie ahead. 

"Yeah... Garnet."


End file.
